Earlsdon Area of Local Distinctiveness

EARLSDON AREA OF LOCAL DISTINCTIVENESS

AREA CHARACTER STATEMENT AND DESIGN GUIDELINES

JANUARY 2008

Earlsdon Aerial Photograph

Photograph courtesy of James Cassidy

Contents

EARLSDON AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH ...... 2 CONTENTS ...... 3 EARLSDON AREA OF LOCAL DISTINCTIVENESS ...... 4 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ...... 5 DEFINITION OF THE AREA OF LOCAL DISTINCTIVENESS ...... 6 AN AREA HISTORY: A DEVELOPMENT BY THE COVENTRY BENEFIT AND FREEHOLD BUILDING SOCIETY ...... 7 ZONE ONE ……….RED ...... 9 ZONE TWO……….GREEN ...... 18 ZONE THREE...... BLUE ...... 22 ZONE FOUR……….PURPLE...... 26 ZONE FIVE……….YELLOW ...... 31 THE EARLSDON HERITAGE TRAIL ...... 36 LIST OF LOCALLY LISTED BUILDINGS ...... 37 LOCALLY LISTED BUILDINGS ADDITIONAL BUILDINGS TO BE CONSIDERED ...... 37 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND DESIGN GUIDELINES ...... 38

Earlsdon Area of Local Distinctiveness

Key to Zones Zone One Red from 1852 Zone Four Purple from 1897 Zone Two Green from 1891 Zone Five Yellow from 1910 Zone Three Blue from 1897

4 Introduction and Background The concept of Areas of Local Distinctiveness was introduced in the Coventry Development Plan 2001 as a means of creating local design guidance for areas outside the existing Conservation Areas in partnership with local communities. A pilot study was successfully concluded in August 2003 with the granting of Area of Local

Distinctiveness status to Spon End and Nauls Mill. The Coventry Development Plan 2001 suggested that Earlsdon be considered for Area of Local Distinctiveness status following the successful conclusion of the pilot study in Spon End and Nauls Mill.

The motivation to apply for Area of Local Distinctiveness for Earlsdon came from the local community who were and are concerned that the local environment could be adversely affected by developments which lack that quality and character to fit comfortably with local Victorian and Edwardian architecture. A very well attended public meeting in July 2003 provided the impetus for the formation of a small committee of volunteers. This committee soon realised that the future of the local environment would best be protected by Area of Local Distinctiveness status. An initial meeting was held with the representatives of the Earlsdon Avenue planning department in April 2004.

The method of the study has been to carry out a survey of the area’s local character which would form the framework for local design and development proposals. Collaboration between the local planning authorities and the local community has been essential, as there are socio-economic factors and Government legislation and policy which may underlie design and development issues.

Earlsdon has mixed socio-economic population and housing. The housing in some streets is mostly owner occupied; in others the housing is tenanted or has been converted into apartments; some of the larger properties have been converted into houses in multiple occupation. Some streets are largely occupied by students who form a transitory population which can threaten the viability of local services such as schools. A local environment with a sense of history and identity expressed in its buildings could influence some of these students to Spencer Avenue remain in Earlsdon providing an intellectual resource for Coventry.

Earlsdon has a long established tradition of small businesses or workshops within residential streets and a well established shopping street. The Victorian and Edwardian housing in much of Earlsdon does not have on site parking contributing to considerable traffic and car parking problems. Traffic, both within and travelling through the area, creates problems of congestion, danger, pollution and parking. The viability of Earlsdon Street as a district shopping centre is threatened by the traffic problems, ‘out-of-town’ supermarkets and changes in shopping habits. The presence of shops marked by their corporate shop signs has an adverse effect on the unique and distinctive character of a shopping street with individual family owned businesses. The thirteen licensed premises attract considerable numbers of people into Earlsdon Street to create a vibrant night life.

The conservation and enhancement of the area as recommended in this study will have a positive effect on the population mix and the prosperity of the area. Earlsdon has a considerable amount of good quality Victorian and Edwardian housing; information from estate agents suggests that period houses in good condition with original details sell at Terracotta dragons

5 a premium. These houses attract younger, high income couples and families on whom the future of Earlsdon and Coventry may depend. The increased purchasing power of the younger, high income couples would support and sustain local services such as schools, shops and

leisure activities, and provide an intellectual and academic resource for

the city.

A significant threat to the locally distinct architecture and street scene is the standardisation of design. Standardisation is found in the corporate shop signs and corporate design of architectural detail of windows and doors. Some large national organisations demonstrate their corporate image in the design of their buildings. Planning Guidance would attempt to combat these problems by tailoring development and design to the specific local setting.

Following full public consultation the final approved document will constitute Supplementary Planning Guidance. There are limits, however, as to what can be achieved through Planning Guidance. The protection of the detailed design aspects of older properties and shop fronts cannot be guaranteed through current legislation, unless, in the case of older properties, they are statutorily listed. Many of the listed features that make up local distinctiveness – such as door and window details, trees, paths and garden-walls are not normally subject to any planning control. Conservation Area Status gives limited additional control. This means that other tactics will have to be used to protect Spencer Avenue small-scale details on which the character of the area often depends. It

is essential, however, that where it can be justified, full use is made of existing planning powers if local distinctiveness is to be protected.

Definition of the Area of Local Distinctiveness

The area defined in this document was determined by the working group following detailed discussions based on the following criteria:

 That the area was clearly identifiable and was determined by clear boundaries.  That the streets included buildings and other features worthy of recognition.  That the streets included did not already hold other designations, e.g. Conservation Area status.

On this basis it was decided to divide the Earlsdon Area of Local Distinctiveness into five zones. Each zone represents a stage in the growth of Earlsdon and contains good, typical examples of architecture from the mid-Victorian period to the end of the Edwardian period. The five zones are contained within an area bounded by Beechwood Avenue to the south and west, the Coventry/Birmingham railway line to the north and the Kenilworth Road Conservation Area to the east. In a few

instances other examples of distinctive buildings have been included Mayfield Road which are outside of these boundaries.

The working party agreed that the starting point should be the original eight streets laid out by the Coventry Freehold Land Society, i.e. Earlsdon Street, Moor Street, Warwick Street, Clarendon Street, Arden Street, Providence Street, Berkeley Road South and a short stretch of Ceramic tiles in entrance Earlsdon Avenue South. These streets were developed from 1852 and porches form Zone One.

6 The economic decline of Coventry and the collapse of the watch making industry from the 1870s is apparent in the lack of development in Earlsdon. Zone Two developed after 1891 with the emergence of the forerunners of the cycle, motor and machine tool industries which led to the economic prosperity of the city in the mid twentieth century. The six roads (Stanley Road, Radcliffe Road, Palmerston Road, Shaftesbury Road, St.Andrew’s Road and Rochester Road) in Zone Two linked the original eight streets with Beechwood Avenue. Beechwood Avenue, originally known as Whor Lane was an old well established track between the Kenilworth/Coventry Road and the London/Coventry Road. The four roads in Zone Three (Osborne Road, Avondale Road, Styvechale Avenue and Warwick Avenue) developed slightly later after 1897 and provided some larger housing for the managers and owners of the new industries. These roads led to Beechwood Avenue which was the main and only road linking Earlsdon via the Kenilworth Road with the City of Coventry.

The four roads in Zone Four (Poplar Road, Earlsdon Avenue North, Newcombe Road and Albany Road) were developed after 1897. The opening of Albany Road in 1897 was in response to need for housing by the workers in the emerging engineering, cycle and car industries. Albany Road followed the line of the Earlsdon Jetty, which was the most direct, shortest, if sometimes treacherous and unpleasant pedestrian route to Coventry. The roads also linked the original eight streets with Chapelfields and Coventry. By the time Zone Five commenced (Earlsdon Avenue South, Belvedere Road, Stanway Road, Mickleton Road, Huntingdon Road, Mayfield Road, Berkeley Road North, Broadway, Spencer Avenue and Dalton Road) from 1910, the new industries were becoming well established. The workers, managers and owners of the new firms all needed housing.

An Area History: A development by the Mayfield Road

Coventry Benefit and Freehold Building Society The first four decades of the nineteenth century saw rapid development in the silk ribbon industry, the staple industry of Coventry. The population of the city almost doubled from 16,049 in 1801 to 30,781 in 1841. The gardens and orchards of the detached houses in Coventry, an area largely enclosed by the line of the old city walls, were filled by housing and workshops. The spacious gardens of the medieval houses and the dignified eighteenth century detached houses became the narrow, dark and congested courts of the slums. Mr William Ranger, a Superintendent Inspector of the General Board of Health, investigated the state of health in Coventry in 1849 and found the majority of the Arden Street labouring population lived and worked in confined and ill-ventilated Porch floor tiles conditions. Few houses had a clean water supply or adequate sewage system. Scarlet fever, typhus, measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis and diarrhoea were endemic, and cholera visited the city in 1831/32,

1848/9, 1854 and 1866.

Many of the superior artisans were desperate to move their families and businesses out of the city and away from the appalling housing and working conditions. Membership of a Freehold Land Society offered the superior artisan an opportunity to move into their own house perhaps with a workshop attached. The Freehold Land Society developed six sites in Coventry in the middle of the nineteenth century: Freehold Street purchased in 1848 with twenty nine plots; Upper Stoke with 258

7 plots; Red Lane; the Lants Estate; Earlsdon with 251 plots in 1852 and Spittlemoor in 1855. The size and layout of Upper Stoke and Earlsdon were similar, and both sites were outside the City boundary at that time.

The 251 plots of the Earlsdon estate were laid out in eight streets – Earlsdon Street, Moor Street, Cromwell Street (now Berkeley Road South), Arden Street, Warwick Street, Clarendon Street, Providence Street and Earlsdon Avenue South. These eight streets still form the core of Earlsdon and Zone One on the map included in this document. Each zone was developed during a different time: Zone One from 1852, Zone Two from 1891, Zone Three from 1897, Zone Four from 1903, although Albany Road was started in 1897, and Zone Five from 1910. The exception in Zone 5 was Dalton Road where the terrace backing onto the Bishop’s residence was built in 1897. In each zone the changing styles of architecture and the street scene reflected the changes in the organisation of the building industry and the market for which the housing was developed. During this period the building industry changed from one dominated by the self employed master craftsman to one dominated by large firms of building contractors; and the market from one in which a house or pair of houses was built for an owner occupier and tenant to one in which a terrace of houses was built for a landlord. Each zone reflects the popular architectural style of the period during which it was developed. The socio-economic background of residents was and remains that of the skilled artisan, the owner of small business, middle management, professional class and retired. The five zones form a unified area and a lasting testimony to the building skills of our Victorian and Edwardian forefathers. The zones portray in architecture, bricks and mortar the history of the building industry and its market from the mid nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The five zones are a physical demonstration of the history of urban housing for the respectable working class and lower middle class of England.

Avondale Road

Terracotta bricks

8 Zone One ……….Red

9 Zone One

Berkeley Road South (1) Zone One consists of the 251 plots laid out in eight streets by the Coventry Freehold Land Society in 1852. The streets were paved and each plot provided with a water supply from the Spon End artesian well

and drainage for waste and rain water but no provision for sewage

disposal. The plots were to be allocated to members of the Coventry Freehold Land Society by ballot. One of the first plots to be allocated went to John Flinn, a member of the committee of the Freehold Land Society, who built Earlsdon House (now Stoneleigh House) on a prominent site in Earlsdon Street.

The early development of the new ‘garden village’ suburb of Earlsdon was slow and uneven with one or two houses being erected in a street

while other plots remained vacant sometimes for many years. Nineteen

years later in 1871 only 114 houses had been built on the 251 plots. The slow erratic development of Earlsdon reflected the City’s economic decline between 1860 and 1890. Coventry has few substantial Victorian houses or commercial premises in the city centre. The ribbon industry, the basis of Coventry’s prosperity, was almost destroyed by the Franco- British free trade treaty of 1861.

Two weavers who could afford to move to the new garden village of

Earlsdon were George Pool and David Green who built their houses

next door to each other in Cromwell Street (89 and 91 Berkeley Road South). The houses are typical weavers’ houses with a topshop on the third floor. The topshop had reinforced floors to take the weight of the heavy looms on the second floor and large windows to the front to make maximum use of the daylight. The 1861 census records a further twenty-six other workers in the weaving industry on the new estate. Some of them were living on the other side of Cromwell Street and working in a specially built shed in the rear of the gardens. By 1868

most of the workers in the weaving industry had been forced to leave

the estate and return to live in the cheaper housing in Coventry.

As the ribbon industry declined, the watch industry enjoyed a slow and For further descriptions of erratic expansion until the 1880s when the industry entered its final photographs see page 16 period of decline. The artisans employed in the watch industry between 1850 and 1880 could afford to move to the new garden village; approximately two thirds of the population in Earlsdon were employed in the watch industry.

Left: Earlsdon Street (2)

Right: The Royal Oak (3)

Left: The Gallery (4)

Right: The City Arms (5)

The watch making industry did not experience the seasonal fashion fluctuations characteristic of the ribbon industry; artisans received a regular weekly wage and steady employment. The fortunes and development of Earlsdon reflected those in the watch making industry. The peak of the industry’s fortunes was reached in 1876 due to the Franco-Prussian war, the expansion of the American market, and successful exports to the Empire. By the 1880s, the industry entered a period of slow decline, unable to compete with the cheaper Swiss and American watches produced in larger productive units with lower labour costs.

Robert Waddington, watch manufacturer, moved to Earlsdon from Liverpool and had a house built on Earlsdon Terrace (lower Earlsdon Avenue South) in 1878.

John Flinn who built Earlsdon House, was a member of the committee of the Coventry Freehold Land Society and a master watchmaker employing several workers. Earlsdon House was a double fronted

Victorian villa with a large entrance hall, dining room, drawing room, five bedrooms, two large attics, a kitchen and scullery, china closet, pantry, Kendall’s delicatessen (6) cellar, coach house and two stall stables, a pig sty, sheddings and paddock with extensive gardens including a kitchen garden and vinery. The front elevation of the house was extended and altered to accommodate the offices of Coventry Gauge and Tool Company in the 1930s.

On 6 May 1852 a plot of land, (now 57 Moor Street, on the corner of Moor Street and Warwick Street) was purchased from the Trustees of the Coventry Freehold Land Society by Michael Kimberley, a ‘Proprietor of Houses’. He sold the plot on 6 July 1860 when it was purchased by Samuel Ward, Baker and Provision Dealer. Within the year, Samuel Ward built a house, shop and outbuildings for a bakehouse; Earlsdon The Albany Club (7) had its first shop.

Left: Berkeley Road Sth. (8)

Right: Alexander Wines (9)

Left: Berkeley Road Sth. (10)

Right: Berkeley Road Sth. (11)

In May 1852 the Trustees sold a plot of land in Cromwell Street (now

110 Berkeley Road South, next door to Alexander Wines, the Off Licence) to John Collings. The plot changed hands several times in the next few years before being sold to John Hulk, Watchmaker, on condition that he built a house on the plot.

Thomas Fletcher with his uncle Joseph Tranter bought two plots, number 228 on the corner of Providence Street and Cromwell Street and number 229 on the opposite corner. They built adjoining houses now joined to form Alexander Wines, on plot number 228 in 1859. By the 1880s the watch making industry was in decline and the front parlour was converted to form a General Stores and minor Post Office before acquiring a Beerhouse Off Licence.

Charles Fletcher, a city ironmonger sold the property in 1904 and built a row of four terraced houses on the plot of land on the opposite corner. The house on the end of the terrace became Hawkes’ General Store, a well known and loved corner shop during the Second World War.

Thomas Pearson, Watch Finisher, was another early occupant of Berkeley Road Sth. (12) Cromwell Street when he built a house (71 Berkeley Road South) with a topshop in the street in 1852.

On 10 May 1852, plot 131 Warwick Street (Earlsdon Cottage Inn) was sold by the Trustees to Joseph Aston Atkins, Watch Motioner. Three years later he took out a mortgage to build the double fronted cottage with a work shop at the rear on the plot of land. In 1871, during a slump in the watch making industry he had become a Licensed Victualler at the Earlsdon Cottage Inn.

Left: Earlsdon Ave. Sth. (13)

Right: The Nail Factory Moor Street (14)

Left: The Earlsdon Cottage (15)

Right: Samaritans’ shop (16)

In 1859 the Royal Oak, a double fronted cottage built on a plot on the corner of Earlsdon Street and Moor Street was opened as a public house by John Sabin who came from a family of publicans.

Plot 151 on Earlsdon Street (now Kendall’s Delicatessen) was sold in 1852 to Henry Bates for £25.8s.8d. In 1871, the house was sold to William Thompson for £130 as an investment property. The house was occupied by various tenants until James Herbert Buckingham bought the property in 1907 and added a bakehouse to the rear and built two houses next door.

William and Joseph Richardson, a father and son, both of whom were watch manufacturers, bought adjacent plots in Clarendon Street in the new garden suburb. They built a pair of large three storey Victorian houses, Westwood and Clarendon House which are locally listed.

The early residents of Earlsdon were united by their employment in the watch industry; their exemption from the local rate of Coventry; pride in the ability to manage their own affairs and the clean and healthy environment of Earlsdon. Many residents also shared their religious beliefs and political affiliation. The unity of the early residents is expressed in the erection of the Methodist Church (now the Criterion Theatre) in 1884. Moor Street (17)

Local residents were united in their disapproval of the smoke nuisance from the Nail Factory erected by William Pitt in 1885 at 38 Moor Street. The smoke emitted by the nail factory was, for local residents, a nuisance which was reported to Coventry Rural Sanitary Authority in 1887. Mr Pitt was required to do away with or abate the smoke nuisance. By 1891 the nail factory had closed and the building was occupied by the Earlsdon Cycle Factory owned by Frederick W Allard. The Earlsdon Cycle Factory moved to larger purpose built premises in Osborne Road in 1896 and the old nail factory was occupied by the Fulwell Cycle Company until 1905.

The premises were the first home of various small engineering firms including the Standard Cycle & Plating Company, the New Era Engineering Company who manufactured Wheatcroft Motor cycles and

13 the Lammas Manufacturing Company who made ‘Cyclo’ Silencers.

Right: Clarendon St. (18) The building which is locally listed has played a significant role in the early years of engineering firms which became the foundations of

the engineering industry and

Coventry’s prosperity in the first half of the twentieth century.

Left: Clarendon St. (19)

Right: Clarendon St. (20)

The Freehold Land Society aimed to sell the 251 plots of the new garden village of Earlsdon to superior artisans who were members of the society. The Trustees anticipated that each artisan would purchase a plot of land, take out a mortgage and commission a builder to erect a house on the plot which the artisan would occupy. The house would probably be designed by the builder in consultation with the prospective artisan owner. The Trustees probably thought and hoped that demand for the plots would exceed supply. However the City’s economic decline affected the development of the new estate. Many plots remained unsold for years; other plots were sold but not developed for several years; other plots were sold on after a few years undeveloped. Some members of the Society bought two plots or erected two houses on one plot; one house was then let and the rent helped to pay the mortgage.

The Freehold Land Society facilitated the development of Earlsdon by individual superior artisans and the owners of small businesses. Each superior artisan or owner commissioned their own builder. The design of their houses reflected that of other houses being erected to meet the needs of their trade and the occupier’s position in the hierarchical structure of the trade. The buildings in Zone One represent the occupation and status of watchmakers. The buildings reflect the structure of a building industry dominated by individual tradesmen working for individual owners on individual plots of land.

Special brick and terracotta details

Descriptions of Photographs in Zone One Photograph (1) General view of Berkeley Road South.

Photograph (2) Red brick bay fronted terrace with mock Tudor gables over bay windows. Typical splayed corner allows a door into the corner shop. The white building at the end of the terrace is Earlsdon House in Earlsdon Street built in 1852 – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (3) The almost unchanged Royal Oak public house which opened in 1859. Built originally as a pub, and also used as a butcher’s, the deformed lintols and sills testify to a 158 years of hard service – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (4) The recent development of Millsy’s Bar and Gallery Restaurant combines a Victorian style shop front on Earlsdon Street with a modern curtain wall window detail on Moor Street. The building appearance is unified by a simple palate of white render, blue bricks and dark grey painted elements. The window above the Gallery sign must have the widest arch in Earlsdon.

Photograph (5) The City Arms public house built in 1930 on the site of the original Victorian pub of the same name. On one of the most prominent positions in Earlsdon, this building is an example of the mock Tudor style of the period. It has strongly detailed chimneys and heavily carved barge boards. - see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (6) Much renovated Henry Bates’ Cottage built in 1852 – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (7) The Albany Club opened as a coffee tavern in 1899. The upper floors retain the vigour of the Victorian design with a central pair of Doric columns broken at the level of the plain stone string courses. Elsewhere moulded copings, string courses and lintol above the columns add decoration. The two arched windows have alternating stone and brick voussoirs above. The shaped gable which crowned the design was taken down years ago -see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (8) Typical terraced houses in Berkeley Road South with three storey weavers’ cottages towards the end.

Photograph (9) Originally the ‘Earlsdon Stores’ selling ‘ales and stout’. The Alexander Wines shop front is a faithful restoration of the original Victorian frontage.

Photograph (10) Three storey weavers’ cottages in Berkeley Road South built in about 1860. The large top windows were to allow light to the silk ribbon looms. The windows have been replaced with replicas of the originals – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (11) Weavers’ cottages in Berkeley Road South opposite those in photograph 10. Note the classical lintols and brackets above the doors and windows – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (12) Thomas Pearson’s house in Berkeley Road South has a dentil course at the eaves and a triangular pediment above the door.

Photograph (13) An imposing double bay fronted house in Earlsdon Avenue South with large moulded lintols to all windows and door. First floor sash windows appear original with very narrow vertical glazing bars.

Photograph (14) The old Nail Factory in Moor Street has a central roof gable above double windows. Moulded brick string courses at first floor level and linking pointed arches above rubbed brick voussoirs. Painting of low brick arch over gateway and elements of ground floor double windows has reduced the effect of the overall brick façade.

Photograph (15)

The Earlsdon Cottage public house was originally built in 1855 as a dwelling. In about 1860 it became a watchmaker’s premises and in 1870 it changed again to become the Earlsdon Cottage Inn. Later transformation, in 1925, added a Smoke Room to the side. Recently the Cottage has been converted into a wine bar – see Heritage trail.

Photograph (16) Earlsdon’s first shop in Moor Street built in 1860 – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (17) Original sash windows in Moor Street with unusual glazing bar patterns.

Photograph (18) Clarendon House and Westwood House in Clarendon Street were built during the 1880’s as watch-making premises. Westwood House was later occupied by Sir Alfred Herbert and later still by Sir Frederick Gibberd, the architect of Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral. The entrance doors are arched and have classical lintols and brackets over – see Heritage Trail.

Photograph (19) This house in Clarendon Street has arched windows and entrance with rubbed brick voussoirs forming the arches.

Photograph (20) Fairmount School in Clarendon Street with a mixture of terracotta ridged tiles and finials, mock Tudor and carved elements to the entrance porch.

17 Zone Two……….Green

18 Zone Two

Beechwood Avenue (21)

The development of the new garden suburb of Earlsdon had been slow and uneven between 1852 and 1890 reflecting the economic fortunes of For further descriptions of Coventry and the watch industry. In 1890 the boundary of Coventry was photographs see Page 21 extended to include Earlsdon. The trustees of Joseph White’s estate anticipated an increased demand for housing in Earlsdon and in 1891 laid out the six streets of Radcliffe Road, Rochester Road, St Andrew’s Road, Shaftesbury Road, Palmerston Road and Stanley Road.

The property on the corner of Bates’ Road and Beechwood Avenue was built as a single detached property; it was converted to form two semi detached properties in the 1960s. Philip Larkin spent much of his leisure time here during his school days when the house was occupied by a school friend, both boys attended King Henry VIII School on Warwick Road.

By 1890 the dominance of domestic manufacturing for the production of watches and ribbons was declining, to be replaced by the small factory manufacture of the emerging cycle, car and machine tool industries. Houses were erected for the skilled artisan, the owner of small business, middle management and professional classes.

St. Barbara’s Church (22)

Left: The Old Farmhouse Palmerston Road (23)

Right: St. Barbara’s Church Rochester Road (24)

Rochester Road (25)

Rochester Road (26)

Left: Shaftesbury Avenue (27)

Right: Rochester Road (28)

Earlsdon was part of the parish of St. Michael’s (later the Cathedral) and in the care of St. Thomas’s at the bottom of Albany Road. After the opening of Albany Road in 1897, the population of Earlsdon grew and the provision of a purpose built place for Anglican worship became urgent. The Methodists had already bought a plot of land on the corner of Albany Road and Earlsdon Avenue in 1909, the second site became available near the corner of Palmerston Road and Rochester Road. By 4th December 1913 the first St. Barbara’s Church (now Cloister Mews) had been erected and was dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester. In 1922 Earlsdon became a parish in its own right.

Rochester Road (29)

Descriptions of Photographs in Zone Two

Photograph (21)

The property on the corner of Bates’ Road and Beechwood Avenue was built as a single detached property; it was converted to form two semi detached properties in the 1960s. The houses show influences from Voysey and Lutyens in the rendered walls, large ornate chimneys and sweeping rooflines.

Photographs (22) and (24) St. Barbara’s Church was consecrated in 1931. The original plan had an extra bay which would have included two porches, baptistery and bell turret, but was never completed due to lack of funds. The stonework is reconstructed stone from Hall Dale; true stone was used in the tracery of the windows and other carved elements.

Photograph (23) The first Earlsdon building, the Old Farmhouse, built circa 1750.

Photographs (25 and (26) A pair of three storey houses in Rochester Road with double height bay windows. A variety of special bricks and terracotta patterns have been used throughout the main façade. The terracotta dentils running up the verges have been repeated in stone as shallow arches above the windows. What appear to be original decorative cast iron railings have survived on top of one of the bays.

Photograph (27) These houses in Shaftesbury Avenue have a brick throating detail which caps the brick voussoirs above the arched first floor windows and the entrances . This links the windows and gives a double arch effect.

Photograph (28) A pair of cottage style houses in Rochester Road with heavy framing to all windows. The top lights have decorative stained glass. Note the large stone coping to the garden wall.

Photograph (29) A double bay fronted house in Rochester Road with elements of mock Tudor, terracotta and stained glass.

21 Zone Three...... Blue

22 Zone Three

Warwick Avenue (30)

Zone Three consists of four streets: Osborne Road, Avondale Road, Styvechale Avenue and Warwick Avenue, laid out by the Earlsdon Syndicate in 1897. The Earlsdon Syndicate was a partnership of four men, Thomas Smith, Frederick Warwick, Edward James Purnell and Thomas Inger Stevens (only Purnell and Stevens came from Coventry). The Syndicate agreed to construct, and maintain, until it was adopted, a forty foot wide road from Whor Lane (now Beechwood Avenue) to Earlsdon Lane (now Earlsdon Avenue South). Numbers 88 and 86, a pair of semi-detached houses, were the first to be built on the left hand corner of Whor Lane and Styvechale Avenue in 1899. By 1917 there were thirteen houses in Warwick Avenue, eight in Styvechale Avenue, twenty five in Avondale Road, six in Osborne Road and six on Earlsdon Lane.

Avondale Road (31)

For further descriptions of photographs see Page 25

Styvechale Avenue ( 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36)

Warwick Ave (37)

Warwick Avenue (38)

Warwick Avenue (39)

Descriptions of Photographs in Zone Three

Photograph (30) Two storeys of mock Tudor above solid stone framed bay windows at ground floor level.

Photograph (31) Mock Tudor with bull’s eye windows.

Photograph (32) A three storey pair of houses which combine a central Dutch gable and first floor mock Tudor wings.

Photograph (33) A pair of double height bay window houses with gables over built in 1917. The facing material is precast concrete with plain and rusticated cast stone finish.

Photograph (34) Two storey houses with clay tile hipped gables over chamfered mock Tudor first floors.

Photograph (35) Large brick gables broken up with horizontal clay tile string courses. Note the tile corbelling at the eaves.

Photograph (36) The central chimney servicing the two houses has a split arch to allow the valley gutter to drain into a hopper.

Photograph (37) A large pair of houses with substantial areas of mock Tudor and a repeating arch theme. The central gable has separate bay windows at ground and first floor levels. Note also the brick arched windows and vertical ‘eye’ shaped windows adjacent to the entrances.

Photograph (38) This pair of houses is similar in style to photo 37. The main difference is that the central bay has been hipped which has resulted in unusual triangular windows either side of the chimney stack.

Photograph (39) This house has dormer windows at the side of the house, pebble dash, facing brickwork and an unusual fully glazed room above the entrance.

25 Zone Four……….Purple

26 Zone Four

For further descriptions of photographs see Page 30

Methodist Church and Library (40)

Zone Four comprises Poplar Road, Earlsdon Avenue North, Newcombe Road and upper Albany Road developed by Inger Stevens after 1897. Parts of this area around upper Albany Road and the lower end of

Earlsdon Avenue North, together with the school and library, are owned by Coventry City Council. Albany Road opened in 1897.

The Earlsdon clock was erected in 1994 and commenced keeping time on noon of 22nd October. The £6000 cost was raised by Earlsdon residents who also contribute to the annual maintenance and insurance costs. Smiths of Derby were the makers, the City provided the post. It replaced a dilapidated three faced clock which was known as ‘The three faced liar’ due to each face showing a different time.

Earlsdon Library (41)

Earlsdon Library and Clock (42)

Methodist Church (43)

Methodist Church (44)

Earlsdon Primary School (45 and 46)

Albany Road (47)

Albany Road (48)

St. Thomas’ Vicarage was built in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee and the opening of the first direct road access into the city. The church that it served, Old St. Thomas’s in the Butts, was demolished in 1976 to make way for a housing complex, St. Thomas’s Court.

Left: Albany Road (49)

Right: Albany Public House (50)

St. Thomas’s Vicarage Albany Road (51) Albany Road (52)

Descriptions of Photographs in Zone Four Photograph (40) The Methodist Church, the library and Earlsdon School with Earlsdon Avenue North in the background.

Photographs (41 and 42) The Earlsdon Library was built in 1912/1913. It opened in October 1913 along with the branch libraries in Stoke and Foleshill. The stonework has classical details such as the open topped segmental pediment at the entrance, a minor triangular pediment above the entrance, pilasters at the entrance and corners and a linking cornice with dentils above the windows. The building is crowned with a domed lantern.

Photographs (43 and 44) The Earlsdon Methodist Church was built in 1922 and opened in 1923.

It was designed in the late Gothic style by Crouch Butler and Savage,

Architects in Birmingham. The facades have two types of facing bricks combined with Weldon stone details and tracery. The large expanse of roof is covered with sand faced plain clay tiles. The front elevation has octagonal brick towers on the corners. These are topped with open stone turrets and pinnacles. The corner entrance with hardwood doors is a later addition.

Photographs (45 and 46) The Earlsdon School was opened in 1890 and extended in 1908 to accommodate 547 children and 14 teachers plus the headmaster. This large Victorian institutional building is simply faced with red brick and red plain clay roof tiles. Shallow arched windows ventilate and light the classrooms. The plain brick walls are relieved by decorative treatment to the numerous chimneys, finials, gable verges, shallow arches and bull’s eye openings in the gables. The cast iron railings at the front appear to be original and must have survived the collection of metal during World War II.

Photographs (47 and 48) This pair of dwellings above shops is very similar to those in photos (43, 44 and 45). The terracotta details and special bricks together with the high quality of workmanship, suggest that both buildings were carried out by the same builder.

Photograph (49) A terrace of two storey bay windowed properties. The bays have crenellated tops which are formed by dropping the same section copings at regular intervals.

Photograph (50) The highly decorative brick and stone facades of the Albany Public House opened in 1907.

Photograph (51) St. Thomas’s Vicarage built in 1897.

Photograph (52)

A shaped gable enclosing a central arch with alternating brick and stone voussoirs. Within the arch are carved stone circular and arched elements. The building has a carved date of 1915.

30 Zone Five……….Yellow

31 Zone Five

Spencer Recreation Park (52) Zone Five consists of ten streets, Earlsdon Avenue South, Berkeley Road North, Mayfield Road, Belvedere Road, Stanway Road, Mickleton Road, Huntingdon Road, Broadway, Spencer Avenue and Dalton Road

laid out by the Newcombe Brothers in 1909. The Newcombe Estate

includes a further fifteen streets which are not included in the area proposed for ALD status. It was decided that the nine streets provided a typical example of the housing and street scenes developed by the Newcombe Brothers. For further descriptions of photographs see Page 35

Earlsdon Avenue South (53 and 54)

Earlsdon Avenue South (55)

Spencer Avenue (56 and

57)

Broadway (58)

Broadway (59)

Dalton Road (60, 61 and 62)

Belvedere Road (63)

Descriptions of Photographs in Zone Five Photograph (52) The bowling pavilion, Spencer Recreation Park.

Photographs (53, 54 and 55)

These three large properties on Earlsdon Avenue South have complex facades using numerous facing materials. All are roofed with plain clay tiles. Other elements include mock Tudor, Dutch gables, hanging tiles, various shaped bay windows and red brickwork. These buildings are locally listed.

Photograph (56) Regular gables above double height bay windows.

Photograph (57) The bargeboard to the gable has dentils at the verge. The two storey bay window has tile hanging above prominent bays.

Photograph (58) Various house forms in a tree lined avenue.

Photograph (59) Bay windows on three levels which reduce in size at each floor.

Photographs (60, 61 and 62) A terrace of properties built in 1897 unified by the facing materials and the regular spacing of similar two storey bay windows. Special bricks and terracotta details decorate the gable verges and tops of bays.

Photograph (63) Red clay roofing tiles, red bricks and unpainted stonework (giving an idea of what Earlsdon bay windows looked like before the fashion for painting stonework). The gables have parapets with stone copings. The end bay window wraps around the corner of the building. Note the arched entrance canopy.

The Earlsdon Heritage Trail The Earlsdon Heritage Trail was conceived, developed and implemented by the Earlsdon 2000 Committee to commemorate the Millennium. The members of the committee were Michael Bennett, Sophie Bridger, John Gibberd, Cllr. Lindsley Harvard, Ian McNeil-

Sinclair, Cllr. John Mason, Mary Montes, Dick Norman, Brian Quinney and Paul Shufflebotham.

Mary Montes, a local historian with extensive knowledge of Earlsdon’s history, wrote a small booklet The Earlsdon Heritage Trail recounting the history of twenty of the most significant buildings in Earlsdon. The booklet included a map with the location of each building and a commemorative plaque was placed on each building. A plaque with the map was also placed on Earlsdon library.

Typical Heritage Trail plaque

List of Locally Listed Buildings Nail Factory, Moor Street City Arms, Earlsdon Avenue South Library, Earlsdon Avenue North Earlsdon School, Earlsdon Avenue North

Methodist Church, Albany Road Earlsdon Avenue South premises numbers 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 The Old Farmhouse, Palmerston Road Church Warden’s premises (Old St. Thomas’s Vicarage), Albany Road, not in ALD Drinking fountain, Beechwood Avenue, not in ALD

Locally Listed Buildings additional buildings to be considered Zone 1 Royal Oak, Earlsdon Street (3) Alexander Wines, Providence Street (9) Weavers’ Cottages (Heritage Trail), Berkeley Road South (10 and 11) House, Berkeley Road South (12) House Earlsdon Avenue South (13) Three storey house Clarendon Street (18)

Zone 2 Semi-detached house, Beechwood Avenue (outside ALD) (21) Pair of houses, Rochester Road (26)

Zone 3 Semi-detached house, Warwick Avenue (30) Semi-detached house, Warwick Avenue (37) Semi-detached house, Warwick Avenue (38)

Zone 4 Pair of commercial premises, Albany Road (47) Albany Public House (outside ALD) (50)

Zone 5 Bowling pavilion, Spencer Park (52) Terraces, Dalton Road (60) Nursing Home, Belvedere Road (63)

Summary, Conclusions and Design Guidelines

This report was prepared by members of ECAD, Earlsdon Conservation and Development. ECAD was formed in 2003 in response to a controversial planning application for a site on Warwick Street.

Following a series of public meetings and discussions between ECAD and the Developer, the application was withdrawn and a scaled down proposal was resubmitted which was subsequently approved. Since then ECAD has monitored planning applications for significant sites with a view to ensuring that proposed developments are in keeping with the scale, style and character of the Earlsdon area.

During the last twenty years the rate of change in Earlsdon has increased significantly. Earlsdon, in a way, is a victim of its own popularity. It is a popular area to live in and to visit. This has caused a marked increase in traffic and its attendant parking problems.

In the last five years developers have noted the popularity of Earlsdon and have bought and developed a number of significant sites. The developments have been almost exclusively one or two bedroomed apartments with very little family accommodation being provided. Generally the architectural style has been a pastiche of the Victorian vernacular. None of them has been able to achieve the building quality, particularly brickwork, which our forefathers consistently achieved.

Over 250 photographs were taken in the preparation of this report. They were gradually reduced as each zone was studied in terms of architecture and accompanying text. The aim has been to demonstrate photographically the overall architectural quality of the buildings, their materials and details.

As a contrast to the hard profiles of buildings Earlsdon’s other main character is one of a green suburb. Earlsdon was known as ‘the garden suburb’ and is still referred to as ‘the village’. Many of the streets are tree lined backed up by mature well cared for gardens. Additionally, the whole area is surrounded by swathes of green open space from the Kenilworth Road Conservation Area, War Memorial Park, Spencer Park, Hearsall Common, Canley Ford to the fairways of Hearsall Golf Club. It is this combination of mature landscape, small scale red brick buildings and larger scale more formal buildings which gives Earlsdon its distinctive character.

In terms of Design Guidelines we have grouped the five zones into a single area because the development history of the zones began in 1852. Before that year the area was outside the city boundaries and consisted of open fields, a few farm buildings and two lanes – Whor Lane which became Beechwood Avenue and Elsdon Lane which became Earlsdon Avenue. Development, therefore, started in the mid Victorian period and defines the architectural style. In recent years the buoyant housing market has allowed home owners to improve or extend their properties. This has resulted in a variety of different solutions which have tended to weaken the character of the street scene.

For example many natural slate roofs are over 100 years old and have reached the point where they need replacing. The old slates have been replaced with a variety of concrete tiles which have different profiles and colours. More recently synthetic slate tiles have become popular. External walls have been rendered, pebble dashed or painted (in some

38 instances even terracotta details have been painted over). Original windows and doors have been replaced with UPVC versions. Front gardens have been paved over to provide parking spaces.

Many residents living in Victorian/Edwardian properties are not aware or do not understand the correct way of dealing with lime built structures. Within the Spon End, Nauls Mill ALD document there is essential reading for homeowners of Victorian/Edwardian buildings. We recommend that a similar authoritative document is produced by the City Council especially to give guidance to home owners when wishing to make changes to their properties. It is hoped that a City Council Guidance Document would help home owners to follow a range of solutions which could be applied to properties of the pre 1920s era and would help to achieve a more consistent quality of conservation. The correct maintenance and conservation of buildings is vital for preserving the quality and heritage of Earlsdon.

ALD status would strengthen the planning process and would ensure the proper design approach to existing buildings where an application for a change of use was sought. Similarly it would give planners and residents a higher level of design expectation when considering applications for new developments. It would also ensure that the shopping area maintained a varied mix of shop types which would cater for all local needs.

Although Earlsdon now stands within the city boundaries it still contains all the attributes of a ‘village’ – church, school, public house, shops and a range of dwellings from simple ‘two up/two down’ terraces with direct access onto the street to more substantial detached properties. As such Earlsdon is representational of our Victorian heritage nationwide.